On Monday, we took the bus from Surfers Paradise to Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay is known for 2 things. First, it is one of the best spots in Australia to whale watch during the winter time. There were no whales to see this time of year though. Second, it is the most popular launching point for Fraser Island. That was our purpose for Hervey Bay. We spent the night here and took off for Fraser Island the next day
Fraser Island, Feb 17-18
Fraser Island is a good sized island off the east coast of Australia. It is the largest sand island in the entire world, meaning it is built entirely of sand. It has some really unique wildlife and scenery.
Alot of people like to camp on the island. We didn't have time to plan this so we took a 2 day, 1 night bus tour.
There are no paved roads on the island, only sand roads. So, you have to have a 4WD vehicle to drive there. We had a huge 4WD bus. I am told this is one of the largest 4WD buses in the southern hemisphere (I thought Tony might be impressed by this). Here is our bus:
And here are some other typical 4WD vehicles for those who do a self drive tour.
It was an adventure just riding around on the bus.....That was one bumpy ride! My back is still sore!
We saw some cool wildlife on the island. There is a huge population of wild dingos and I saw 2 of these on the trip. This is the best picture I got. It just looks like a big dog.
I also saw a huge, ugly lizard!
I also saw my first wild kangaroos on the bus ride to the ferry but didn't get any pics. They were just hopping around in a field. I will get some kangaroo pics before I leave!
Fraser Island is known for its perched lakes and these were my favorite part of the trip. Perched lakes are fresh water lakes that form in the hollow of a sand dune. The water was crystal clear and the scenery was beautiful around the lake.
Here is Lake McKenzie.
It rained most of our trip but we got some great sunshine just in time for Lake McKenzie. As you can see below, I was pumped!
We also went to Lake Wabby which was another perched lake. First, we had a 1.8 km hike through some sand dunes to get to the lake. I really loved the sand dunes. I have never been in a desert before so I'd never seen so much sand!
Finally, I arrive at Lake Wabby. Another crystal clear lake.
I even saw some catfish swimming around in the water.
We spent a lot of time driving down the 75 mile beach which serves as a highway for the island. This side of the beach faces the Pacific Ocean. Nobody swims here though. The undercurrents are very strong and there is a significant shark population in the water. Yikes!!!
You can fish from the beach though. We even saw a lady catch a fish!
Two of my roomates, Caroline and Leonard from France.
A massive shipwreck on the beach.
We climbed to a nice look out point on the island. The views were great but again it was raining so they could have been even better! We were told that you can often see sharks swimming in the water from this look out point.
The view of Fraser Island as our ferry pulls away. It was a great trip.
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